Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton,
Mrs. Cynthia Graham Hurd,
Mrs. Susie J. Jackson,
Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance,
Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor,
Reverend Clementa Pinckney,
Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders,
Reverend Daniel Lee Simmons, Sr.,
Mrs. Myra Singleton Quarles Thompson.
After their murders on June 17, 2015, this Bible study group of Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina, became known as the Emanuel 9.
They welcomed a stranger into their group that night, and in doing so, served as disciples of Jesus, sharing abundant love and welcome through courage, compassion, and curiosity. These acts of love were met with evil and hatred.
These 9 were pastors, parents, educators, public servants, mentors, and friends. They were people deeply invested in their communities and committed to serving others.
Their martyrdom came through an act of racist violence rooted in white supremacist ideology. These acts of violence were not simply the action of one individual; they expose the prevalence of an enduring power of beliefs and systems that continue to divide people, deny human dignity, and place some lives at greater risk than others.
Remembering the Emmanuel 9 is more than an act of mourning. It is an invitation.
It is an invitation to examine our own assumptions,
to listen to experiences different from our own,
and to recognize how fear and prejudice distort our understanding of one another.
It is an invitation, to consider the possibility of courage, compassion, and community, even in the face of hatred.
It is an invitation to move beyond complacency and to engage in the hard work of building communities where every person is seen, valued, and treated with dignity.
May the love of all continue to gather us, heal us, and set us free from the evil and hatred in our communities, as we remember together the lives of the Emanuel 9.
